Inakustik
Tasty Sound Collection
Wine & Vocals

Inakustik Tasty Sound Collection Wine & Vocals is built around a simple idea I actually like: choose songs that deserve the same kind of attention as a good glass of wine. Released by in-akustik in December 2009, it is part of the label’s A Tasty Sound Collection series, which matched different styles of music with drinks such as coffee, whisky and champagne. Wine & Vocals concentrates, as the title promises, on voices, but thankfully that does not mean twelve similar female vocal recordings lined up simply because they sound pretty. Friend ’N Fellow, Lucy Kaplansky, Rebecca Pidgeon, America, Sara K., Blues Company, Michael Schenker and Gary Barden all appear here, so there is enough variation in style and character to make this feel like a proper compilation rather than an audiophile demonstration disc.

Voices With Very Different Characters

The opening track, Friend ’N Fellow’s “One More Day”, immediately explains why the concept works. The German duo of vocalist Constanze Friend and guitarist Thomas Fellow have always been able to create a surprisingly complete sound with very little around them, and this track originally appeared on their album Home. What catches me first is the interaction between voice and acoustic guitar. The guitar is not simply accompanying the vocal; the attack of the strings, the pauses and the movement of the arrangement all help give the song its rhythm. On a transparent system, Friend’s voice sits clearly between the speakers without becoming unnaturally large, while the guitar has enough body to prevent the recording from sounding thin.

Lucy Kaplansky’s “Manhattan Moon” changes the atmosphere completely. It comes from her 2007 album Over the Hills, released by Red House Records, and is one of the tracks here where I stop thinking about the compilation concept and simply listen to the song. Kaplansky has a voice with warmth but also a slightly worn, human quality that I much prefer to overly polished vocals. The arrangement gives her room, and I like the way the recording lets the vocal remain central without pushing everything else into the background. There is good depth and separation, but what matters to me is that the stereo imaging helps the intimacy of the performance rather than drawing attention to itself.

Rebecca Pidgeon’s “Grandmother” is perhaps the most obvious audiophile choice on the album. The song originally appeared on her Chesky Records album The Raven, and Chesky’s approach to recording has made Pidgeon familiar to anyone who has spent time with vocal reference music. “Grandmother” runs for more than six minutes, yet it never feels oversized because the arrangement develops patiently around her voice. I particularly enjoy the natural space around the performance. Her vocal does not appear pasted onto the front of the mix, and small details remain audible without sounding artificially highlighted. On good speakers or headphones, the midrange transparency is easy to hear, but I still find myself following Pidgeon rather than analysing the recording, which is exactly how it should be.

More Than an Audiophile Vocal Sampler

One of the smarter decisions in the selection is to include tracks that move away from the expected acoustic singer-songwriter formula. Michael Schenker and Gary Barden contribute both “Dance Lady Gipsy” and “Lost”, material connected with their acoustic 2009 collaboration Gypsy Lady. Schenker is obviously best known for a much harder rock sound, so hearing his guitar in this more restrained setting gives the collection useful contrast. The guitars have real presence and texture, while Barden’s voice is rougher and less pristine than some of the other singers here. I like that. A collection devoted to vocals becomes much more interesting when not every voice is chosen because it is smooth and beautiful.

America’s “I Need You” provides another change of direction. It is short, direct and immediately recognisable, and its inclusion prevents the album from becoming too serious about its own audiophile credentials. Then there is Sara K.’s version of “Vincent”, from her 1995 Chesky album Tell Me I’m Not Dreamin’. Her interpretation of the Don McLean song has the kind of close, unforced presentation that can expose a system very quickly. Listen to how the voice occupies its own position, how clearly the accompanying instruments retain their individual character, and especially whether the quieter details remain connected to the music instead of becoming separate little hi-fi effects. For me, that coherence is more important than hearing every tiny sound in isolation.

The compilation contains twelve tracks in total, finishing with Chris Farlowe’s “Tough on Me, Tough on You”. Along the way there are also Blues Company, Serah & Friedemann, the Vivino Brothers and a second Rebecca Pidgeon performance, “Auld Lang Syne/Bring It on Home to Me”. That variety is one reason Wine & Vocals works better than I initially expected from its lifestyle-oriented title. The sequencing moves between folk, blues, acoustic rock and singer-songwriter material without making wild jumps in mood. Not every selection grabs me equally, but I never get the feeling that songs were included only because somebody considered them suitable for testing expensive equipment.

A Compilation That Gets the Balance Right

From an audiophile perspective there is plenty to work with. Voices vary enormously in texture and recording style, acoustic guitars reveal differences in attack and resonance, and several tracks give a good impression of soundstage depth and vocal placement. More importantly, these differences come from genuinely different recordings rather than twelve tracks mastered to create the same impressive sound. A revealing DAC, amplifier or pair of speakers will show those contrasts clearly, especially between the openness of Rebecca Pidgeon, the intimacy of Lucy Kaplansky and the more physical presentation of Michael Schenker and Gary Barden. That makes the album useful as reference music, but I would never reduce it to that role.

What I value most about Inakustik Tasty Sound Collection Wine & Vocals is the mixture of familiar audiophile names and artists that give the selection a little more bite. “Grandmother” demonstrates why Rebecca Pidgeon became such a regular presence on audiophile recordings, “Manhattan Moon” brings genuine emotional weight, and “One More Day” shows how much musical information two performers can create without a crowded arrangement. The wine theme may have been the marketing idea behind the collection, but the music does not need a glass beside it to make sense. For me, this is simply a well-chosen vocal compilation with enough variation to enjoy as music and enough revealing recordings to make careful listening worthwhile.

HiFi’ve, Ronald – Your EarFluencer